Abstract
Modern cities have witnessed a significant level of transformation of urban environments, in which the urban neighbourhoods of recent origin have also changed. This paper explores the transformation of public space in contemporary urban neighbourhoods of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. It examines the changing provision and use of public space through a case study of three recent neighbourhoods using observations and interviews. The study identifies fundamental differences in the development of public space, suggesting that public spaces are no longer the central elements of new neighbourhoods. Further changes with the provision of public space include the existing spatial configuration of open spaces, the loss of social quality of neighbourhood streets and the rise of alternative public venues. The changing provision of public space has influenced the use with the shifting locations of public activities. There is a growing tendency to use the streets as a public space along with other privately owned public spaces. While a large portion of public space remains underutilised or has been put into an inappropriate use, some new uses of public spaces are also noticed in the changing context.
Highlights
Urban change is a global phenomenon with widespread consequences on urban form and life across different geographical regions
Findings from this study reveal several changes in the provision and use of contemporary neighbourhood public space in the Kathmandu Valley
There is a loss of public space, in the unplanned new neighbourhoods
Summary
Urban change is a global phenomenon with widespread consequences on urban form and life across different geographical regions. The valley was exposed to globalisation only in 1951, following the political change; this change generated migration from all over the country (Basyal, Khanal 2001; Shah, Pant 2005) This led to rapid growth and transformation of urban landscape in the valley, with the city cores expanding to take the emerging form of a sprawl (ICIMOD, UNEP, Government of Nepal 2007; Thapa et al 2008). Most definitions of public space suggest that it is essentially a physical setting to perform a range of social activities taking place within a community (see Carr et al 1992; Madanipour 1996; Tibbalds 2001) It is generally characterised as a space owned and controlled by a public agency. This paper adopts a boarder definition of public space to mean any “social space”, both outdoor and indoor, with a potential to develop social contacts (regardless of ownership and typology)
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